The Will To Fight
by Switzerland Sun
Summary: I personally think that this is, so far, one of my more decent attempts at a story. The story should eventually have 3 to 5 chapters, as Alphard Black watches his great nephew grow up.
1. Chapter 1

The Will To Fight

Yours was not a bad life. You had a long and tolerable marriage to a woman to whom you hardly ever spoke, and you were both happier that way. You were the younger son, but your wife had a handsome dowry, and your brother died young, though he did produce both heir and spare. Your wife and yourself never did. You had one daughter early in your marriage, and several miscarriages a decade later, but never a son.

Your daughter in her turn grew up and made a decent marriage, and spawned herself a whole new branch on the family tree. Neither your wife nor the rest of your family much cared for the match, but you had the final say in the matter. You found the Weasley boy funny, and he was pureblood and wealthy enough, if not rich. Your daughter was very much in love with him, and you wished her a passion to her marriage that had never been present in your own.

Your brother's sons were also grown, and finding marriages of their own. Though they were late in the process. The younger brother married first. The elder waited until he was most of 30, and there were few enough left to pick from then.

When he did marry, he picked he most despicable soon-to-be-crone that you had ever met. Even the size of her dowry hadn't kept the other suitors who had knocked at her door.

But they were married and a son followed 5 years later. They named him after your father. But the baby did not match the gravity of his name. You saw him rarely as the bouncy, smiling baby, but he soon grew to a rambunctious toddler, who his parents were only to happy to give up for a few hours, especially when another baby followed him.

So in your old age, you found yourself with a new child whom you loved as much as your own birth daughter. You saw in him a rebelliousness that might make him fight for a happier life than yours. And though your niece-in-law might have things to say about it, you fostered it.

A/N: I sat down to write a drabble for my collection, _If You Must Choose, _and this thing went and spawned itself. I am looking for someone who might be willing to beta this, and possibly _If You Must Choose_. Thank you in advance for your lovely reviews (hint, hint )


	2. Chapter 2

The Will To Fight

Chapter Two

Bang!

BANG!!

The noise shakes the house, rattling the windows, shortly followed by Pleione's shriek.

"SIRIUS BLACK!!"

The three year old under inspection comes running into your office, where you are reading in the chair by the fire. You chuckle as he hides behind you.

"What have you done now?" You inquire of him.

"Nuthin'" is the immediate reply.

" Enunciate clearly, Sirius, enunciation is a virtue." You say, imitating his mother.

He giggles. "Nothing"

You raise your eyebrows, and he scuffs the carpet.

He looks up, and ducks for cover as Pleione comes in.

"Alphard, have you seen that boy? Yes, there he is. I thought as much." She sniffs.

"I'm handling him," you say.

"You're much too soft on him, Alphard."

"What do you suggest then Pleione?

"Children need direction early in life, or it'll end badly." 'Just look at you' goes unspoken, but it is there, hovering in the air between you.

"Of course. You wouldn't want to end up like me, would you Sirius?"

He glanced at Pleione before shaking his head. "You're to old, Unc'l Alperd. I don't ever want t'be old."

Pleione sniffs again, a rather annoying habit of hers. "The nerve. Do you know what he did Alphard? He made the statue of the dragon in the drawing room sneeze, and used it to ignite your snuff powder."

"My snuff powder? You dog, you destroyed my snuff?" You wink at him. "No dessert for you, young man!"  
"But Unc'l Alperd—"

"No buts to you Uncle, or I'll have a talk with your mother!" Pleione says sharply.

You glance at her. She huffs, and leaves.

"Now, we'll simply have to cancel dessert all together while we go get me some more snuff for me, how about that?"

His eyes light up, and he clamors for you to hurry up. You groan as you lift yourself from your comfortable seat by the fire.

"You know what, Sirius? I don't ever want to be old either. But it does beat the alternative."

-HTCHB-

So here's the next chapter. I'm actually enjoying writing this more than anything else at the moment, so we may see another chapter in the next week. I am still looking for a beta. I really do not want to have to ask my mum. Pleione is a star in the Taurus constellation. I pronounce it PLEE-own-EE, but that is up for discussion. I look forward to hearing from everyone who reads this. 


End file.
